First attempt to establish women's football disrupted by soccer hooligans

The increasing urbanisation of Britain during the second half of the 19th century led to the development and rapid growth of organised sport. Both the working- and middle class sectors of society were affected by this phenomenon, and many of the sports familiar to us today were codified during this period. The 1880's in particular saw an explosion of interest in Association football. Organised leagues still lay some distance in the future, and the new clubs which sprang up almost daily resorted to local newspaper notices to contact potential opponents. Most of these were simple in format, for example: "Newtown Rovers have free dates on February 24th and March 11th - contact secretary at...." Sometimes a specific challenge to a named opponent would be issued.